China is rushing to meet the increasing demand for specialized personnel in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Over the past 20 years, the region has seen a remarkable increase in the number of specialized talents. Most of them are of the Tibetan ethnicity, which makes up 70 percent of Tibet's total population. Our reporter Shuang Feng has the story.

Reporter:

Over 60 percent of the researchers at the Tibet Academy of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Sciences are of Tibetan ancestry. Ji Qiumei, vice director of the academy's Institute of Animal Sciences, said they are the backbone of the scientific research there.

"Now, 75 percent of our research and major projects are undertaken by female Tibetan researchers."

Ji Qiumei has been studying plateau yak breeding for over 20 years. She says that the local people, like herself, would enjoy the chance to enhance their knowledge.

"Scientific researchers here would be given opportunities to study in major universities or laboratories in China. They might even be sent abroad. This would help to gradually raise the overall level of our research team."

With financial support from the local government, she founded Tibet's Yak Research and Development Center, and has devoted herself to the protection of the rare highland animal.

Similarly, Duoji is the first Tibetan academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering. As one of only a handful of university graduates from his rural village, the geothermic expert never thought he could come this far.

"Both my parents are illiterate. I didn't think I could be an academician before. Now I am the supervisor for postgraduates and doctoral students, many of whom are Tibetan locals. They are willing to strive for the development of the Tibetan economy when they graduate."

Duoji says that he would leave no stone unturned in his quest to light up every corner of Tibet, where nearly 30 percent of the 2.8 million people there are still waiting for electricity.

Through the cultivation of specialized personnel, strengthened education, improved employment rates, and the institution of a social security system, Tibet will soon be on the road to prosperity.

Shuang Feng, CRI News.